Steelers' Nick Herbig Reveals The Brutal Truth Behind Disconnecting During $100 Million Contract Negotiations

The Pittsburgh Steelers made headlines last week when they locked up rising pass rusher Nick Herbig to a four-year, $100 million extension, but what was happening behind the scenes during those negotiations was a story nobody had heard yet. In a recent episode of Not Just Football with Cam Heyward, Herbig pulled back the curtain on just how mentally draining the entire process really was.

Herbig, who entered mandatory minicamp without a new deal before finally agreeing to terms on June 2nd, admitted that the uncertainty of his situation took a serious toll on him mentally. Rather than subject himself to the noise of social media during one of the most stressful periods of his life, he made the decision to delete every single app off his phone. As SteelerNation previously covered, Herbig showed up to mandatory minicamp before agreeing to his landmark deal later that same day, but the weeks leading up to that moment were anything but easy.

The 24-year-old was candid about the dark thoughts that crept into his mind during the process. He described wondering whether he would ever set foot in the Steelers facility again, or whether one day a box of his belongings would just show up at his door. For a player who had already expressed his desire to be a Steeler for life, those kinds of thoughts hit differently. Herbig sat down with captain Cam Heyward and described exactly what he was going through.

"I had to delete all my socials. I just couldn't see anything, bro, 'cause then it would just, I would just be like, man, I want to be there," Herbig explained. "And things are just all the different possibilities of what could happen is just running through your head, like am I going to be on a different team next year? Am I ever going to be a Steeler again? Like am I ever going to be in that building? Am I just going to get a box one day at my house of all my stuff? Like you really don't know. And I mean, that's the business side of things, you know? You really don't have any control of that. All you can do is put your tape out. So man, it's super stressful."

What makes Herbig's story so relatable is not just the stress he endured, but how he handled it. Rather than letting the uncertainty consume him, he focused on what he could control, which was his work ethic and his film. 

Herbig made it clear that in the NFL, the tape does not lie, and he trusted that his play on the field would ultimately speak for itself when the time came. That mentality is exactly what the Steelers were paying for when they handed him that nine-figure deal.

Herbig's Mindset Has Him And Steelers Ready For 2026

Herbig came into the league in 2023 as a fourth-round pick from Wisconsin, stepping into one of the most talented edge rusher rooms in the entire NFL alongside TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith. Rather than wilt under the pressure of playing behind two established stars, he carved out a role and kept expanding it every season. His career-high 7.5 sacks in 2025 proved he was more than just a complementary piece, and the Steelers front office took notice. Now with his future in Pittsburgh secured through 2030, Herbig can finally exhale after months of uncertainty.

The fact that a player of Herbig's caliber had to go through that kind of mental grind just to get paid what he believed he deserved says a lot about how ruthless the business side of the NFL can be. However, if anything, the way he handled it says even more about who he is as a person and as a player. The Steelers did not just lock up a pass rusher with his new deal. They locked up a guy who has already proven he can handle adversity when the lights are brightest. 

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